• Part 1: What to Backup to the Cloud?
• Part 2: Cloud Backup Options
• Part 3: Limitations of Cloud backup
• Part 4: Why Do You Need a Backup Software?

Documents

A document is a file with an extension such as DOCX, DOC, PDF, etc. These documents have a small size and are normally in the "Document" folder on your computer. Since you can easily lose these documents and their small size, it is important that you backup them using PC cloud backup.

Images

One of the most painful things is losing memories in terms of pictures. Pictures are files having the JPG, PNG, JPEG, etc., extensions. Because of the ease of losing pictures due to carelessness or malware infection, they are important files you must backup.

Videos

Videos are very delicate files. There can be malware infection due to transfer from one computer to another or one storage device to another. Therefore, you should back them up. However, depending on the size, there can be a limitation on the number of videos available that you can backup.

Program Data

Program data is a folder that contains files from all your applications. Whether you should back them up depends on many factors.

Normally, you should not need to copy files from this folder to another computer. Therefore, backing them up should be useless since, ultimately, you will need to reinstall these applications.

However, in some scenarios, you can copy these folders/back them up. Good examples of such scenarios are games downloaded from Steam and Battle.net directories. 

Files not suitable for Cloud Backup

One thing about PC cloud backup is that you want to access them on your computer on another computer. However, some files are executable on only one system. When you copy them out, you can't access them on other systems—a very good example of these files in Windows System files.

Yes, you can backup these files, but outside that particular computer model, they are useless. So ultimately, they are files unsuitable for PC cloud backup.

1. Google Drive

Google Drive provides one of the best cloud storage services in the world. This makes it one of the most used services to backup computer to cloud. It has many features, such as a direct link to many other applications such as Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Google Slides.

Google drives its users with three storage plans: 15GB, 100GB, and 2TB. The 15Gb is free, making it the ideal platform for many smartphone users. However, the 100GB goes for $1.59/month or E15.99/year. The 2TB is E2.99/month or E79.99/month. Google Drive also allows offline access to files, advanced search options, preview, and file versioning.

By the way, you can learn how to fix Google backup and sync cannot connect error in another blog from us.

2. OneDrive

OneDrive is another adequate way to backup computer to the cloud. The cloud storage provider is quite decent. However, the price is something that might get you to worry.

OneDrive provides its users with a three-storage plan: 5GB, 100GB, 2TB. The 5GB storage is free, while the 100GB and 1 TB goes for $1.99 and $6.99 per month. The 1TB storage plan comes with all the Office 365 applications.

OneDrive has good integration with other products on Windows. You can access it easily on your system like a folder and use it to store office files. In addition, learn what to do If you encounter trouble syncing files with OneDrive.

3. iCloud

iCloud is the third platform we will discuss where you can backup computer to cloud. While the two others show support for Android, Windows, and Apple, iCloud is majorly for Apple. There is support for Windows. However, it is more like browser support.

iCloud storage plans are: 5GB, 50GB, 200GB, and 2TB.  The 5GB is free for people running the iOS or Mac operating system. 50GB goes for $0.99, 200GB goes for $2.99 while 2TB goes for $9.99 per month. These storage plans are for Apple devices. The difference between the Windows support is that the free plan has a size of 1GB.

iCloud has lesser features when you compare it with Google Drive and OneDrive. However, it compensates for this with its brilliant security approach. For example, it uses two-factor authentication during log-in. 

• Internet Speed

Internet speed is a very important factor you need before you backup computer to cloud. A slow internet speed will reduce backup and restore speed. This is due to the increase in time taken. If the data you want to backup has a large size, it might take a long time to upload to the server, depending on the internet speed. It goes two ways, such that it might take the same amount of time to download those files after backup.

• Security

There is a certain sense of fulfillment we feel when we have things under our supervision. However, when you backup computer to cloud, your files are not under your supervision. This means that they are vulnerable to attacks from hackers. The internet space is not a very secure place, synonymous with a stealthy loss of sensitive data. 

• Privacy

There is a privacy issue when we backup computer to cloud. This is very important when we backup sensitive files. By backing up such files, any security breaches can put you at risk on a third-party server.

• Cost

Cost is one of the reasons many people don't do PC cloud backup. From the three examples we discussed above, we can see a trend in the amount people pay per month for the service.

Local Storage

Local backup software allows users to easily backup your files on a local storage device, unlike the cloud. There are many storage devices you can do this on. Below are the most popular three ways.

• 1. Hard Disks

  The hard disk size is a major determinant of the number and size of files you can backup. There are many types of hard disks categorized on the size. Backupper has many features that can help smoothen the process. Top examples are:

  • Clone HDD to SSD.
  • HDD to HDD.
  • M.2 SSD to M.2 SSD: This is valuable for disk upgrade and data migration.
• 2. Flash Drives

  Flash drives are another local storage option that you can use. However, they have a limitation due to their size. Nevertheless, you can easily back up your files there without encountering any issue.  

• 3. NAS

  You can also back up your files using NAS devices. NAS devices (Network-attached Storage) are file-based data storage connected to a network made up of other devices. You can also sync the files to a cloud service. This makes it ideal for those who want to enjoy both methods.   

Automatic Backup

Generally, the backup process of any backup software should be On-The-Go. This means that you have to be the one to equip the process every time. However, with Backupper, the process is automatic. Therefore, you get to enjoy a full, incremental, or differential backup plan depending on what you want. 

Quick Restore

After a backup, local backup software will allow you to restore those files easily and quickly. You don't need an internet connection for this. Therefore, it has an advantage over cloud storage.